Free Essays on Russia

Comparative Politics RUSSIA: POLITICAL STRUCTURE: Summary: Why the democratic structure in Russia is proving to be unsuccessful. INTRODUCTION: The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, disintegrating into thirteen different states. Ever since the political structure of Russia has been viable and lacks stability. Many reasons can be cited for this instability out of which the bearish economy and a shaky democratic system are the main causes. ANALYSIS: The reforms taken after Russia’s disintegration have yet to be proved fruitful. The economy is in no better shape then before and politically Russia has great set backs in the name of the ongoing war with Muslim freedom fighters in Chechnya. â€Å"The most important factor that needs to be established is economic growth. Successful economic development will ease the transition and enable violence and dissention among the races very avoidable. If resources are abundant and properly distributed then multiple markets can grow. However, when resources run scarce and competition arises for limited assets then violence and animosity become the only plausible alternatives. If two industries fiercely compete for limited resources then one is likely to be forced out of the market. A sound and developing economy is essential for the happiness and orderly conduct of the people (Barner-Barry & Hody, 1995)(1). Another problem cited in the progress is the difficulty of transition from communism to democracy when the government officials are trained in the old system. The process of privatization requires lengths of time and willingness of the people to take upon the businesses for which they require full governmental protection, easy paper work and full rights over their property. â€Å"If Russia is to make the transition, it must rediscover civil society (the informal network of family, church, service organization and the like). Strong civil society provides the polit... Free Essays on Russia Free Essays on Russia Comparative Politics RUSSIA: POLITICAL STRUCTURE: Summary: Why the democratic structure in Russia is proving to be unsuccessful. INTRODUCTION: The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, disintegrating into thirteen different states. Ever since the political structure of Russia has been viable and lacks stability. Many reasons can be cited for this instability out of which the bearish economy and a shaky democratic system are the main causes. ANALYSIS: The reforms taken after Russia’s disintegration have yet to be proved fruitful. The economy is in no better shape then before and politically Russia has great set backs in the name of the ongoing war with Muslim freedom fighters in Chechnya. â€Å"The most important factor that needs to be established is economic growth. Successful economic development will ease the transition and enable violence and dissention among the races very avoidable. If resources are abundant and properly distributed then multiple markets can grow. However, when resources run scarce and competition arises for limited assets then violence and animosity become the only plausible alternatives. If two industries fiercely compete for limited resources then one is likely to be forced out of the market. A sound and developing economy is essential for the happiness and orderly conduct of the people (Barner-Barry & Hody, 1995)(1). Another problem cited in the progress is the difficulty of transition from communism to democracy when the government officials are trained in the old system. The process of privatization requires lengths of time and willingness of the people to take upon the businesses for which they require full governmental protection, easy paper work and full rights over their property. â€Å"If Russia is to make the transition, it must rediscover civil society (the informal network of family, church, service organization and the like). Strong civil society provides the polit... Free Essays on Russia The Rise of Russian Anti-Imperialism After the breakup of the Soviet Union, many observers have wondered how post Cold War Russia would react. Years of Soviet ineptitude in economics and gross overspending in the military have put Russia in a fiscal quagmire. While some clamor for a more dominant Russia, there are greater internal forces that think Russia needs to build economic stability and then the natural order of things should take care of itself. In the article â€Å"The Rise of Russian Anti-Imperialism,† Henry Hale describes a Russia on the brink of financial ruin in 1998. They had suffered an economic collapse that year and he argues that invariably changed Russia’s domestic and foreign policy as well. Little did he know that a strong leader was waiting in the wings to take over for Yeltsin and bring stability to the government and slow down economic reform. Russia has been beset internally with graft and corruption. The failure of the Russian government in the past to reign in these forces has hampered its integration into the world economy. Recently, however, President Putin has begun to consolidate his power and arrested Mikhail Khodorkovsky for fraud and tax evasion. He is trying to send a signal to the rest of the profiteers that the Russian government will not stand by and watch others take advantage of her baby steps towards free markets. There have been attempts to reintegrate the old Soviet Union into a cohesive economic zone. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former republics agreed to form a Commonwealth of Independent States, however that quickly dissolved. In early 1993, there was an attempt at regaining control of many of the former Soviet Republics that still wanted to use the Russian Ruble as their currency. This tactic was called the Ruble Zone. However, those efforts collapsed because the other republics were trying to use this Zone as a hidden subsidy and Russian economists in the governmen...